Comparison

Radio Unit vs lo

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Radio Unit

Stream over 35,000 internet radio stations with this app. Enhance your audio experience by using it as an AUv3 plugin with other compatible music apps. Discover new music and save your favorites.

Highlights
  • Access 35,000+ radio stations
  • Enhance audio with AUv3 plugins
  • Intuitive interface
  • Song discovery and saving
  • Favorites sync across devices
  • MIDI control for AUv3 plugin
Read full description

Discover a world of music with Radio Unit, a sleek and powerful Internet radio player with a built-in Audio Unit (AUv3) plugin.  Elevate your listening experience by enhancing streaming audio in real time using your favorite third-party audio processing plugins (not included) within AUv3-compatible hosts like Drambo or GarageBand. Features: • Intuitive Interface: Enjoy a clean, user-friendly design for effortless navigation. • Song Discovery: Tap to add the currently playing song to your favorites, then open it in the Apple Music app or search for it on Google. • Massive Station Library: Access over 35,000 radio stations—search by name, browse by genre or location, and sort by popularity. • Favorites Sync: Save stations and songs to your favorites list, seamlessly synced across your devices. • AUv3 Integration: Use Radio Unit as a standalone app or as an AUv3 plugin in hosts like Drambo, GarageBand, and more, with support for multiple plugin instances. • MIDI Mapping: Control buttons can be triggered by MIDI Note events (C3 to F3). (AUv3 only) • Battery Efficient: Stream music without draining your device. The app requires internet connection.

About

lo

This app offers a versatile toolkit for manipulating audio with a variety of lo-fi effects. Explore historical audio degradation, modern digital artifacts, and analog warmth to transform your sound.

Highlights
  • Convolution reverb with unique impulse responses
  • Spectral processing for MP3 simulation and pitch shifting
  • Digital section with bitcrusher and CD stutter
  • Analog section with tape saturation and noise generation
  • Rearrangeable processing sections
  • Dozens of presets for sound warping
Features
Read full description

"LO‑FI‑AF is a very capable lo‑fi toolkit capable of surgically targeted destruction and it could easily find applications in just about any musical genre" -SoundOnSound Unfiltered Audio's lo-fi-af is now available on iOS as a Standalone app or AUv3 plugin! lo-fi-af takes your sound on a journey of artifacts and noise throughout recorded history, from tape warbles and vinyl noise to MP3 chirps and cell phone speaker chatter. lo-fi-af's many sections and versatile algorithms can place your sound in a different decade, or give it a thoroughly modern spin through compound processing. The first section is a convolution reverb preloaded with impulse responses from broken microphones, toy speakers, cell phones, and more. With this section alone, you can place your sound into an entirely different space. The Spectral section then splits your sound into thousands of frequencies before reconstructing it with a twist. Here you can reproduce the sound of a pirated MP3 or pitch shift your signal with clean perfection. Your signal then takes a trip through the digital section. All sorts of hazards are present here, from a skipping CD stutter effect to a multimode bitcrusher. Finally, the rich, colorful analog section adds that vibe that you crave. A maximizer, a tape saturator, a noise generator, an analog-style filter, a pitch warbler, and a radio demodulator all work together in harmony to toss your sound into the past. But wait! That's only one possible signal chain. The Convolution, Spectral, Digital, and Analog sections can be completely rearranged in any order. Dozens of presets will get your started on your sound warping adventure. As an AUv3 plugin, lo-fi-af has been tested to work perfectly with Garageband, Drambo, AUM, Cubasis, Beatmaker, Nanostudio, apeMatrix, Loopy Pro, and more! Additionally, with its clear layout and smart resizing, lo-fi-af can be used on tablets and phones with ease. (Note for Drambo users: Drambo does not yet have automatic Plugin Delay Compensation for managing plugins with latency. As a result, tracks with lo-fi-af will not line up properly with other tracks. An upcoming patch for Drambo will add this feature in.)

Screenshots

Radio Unit2 screens
lo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: lo at 5.0 against Radio Unit's 4.6. lo also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). Radio Unit's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 67%) and price ($6.99 vs $9.99). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Radio Unit costs $6.99 and lo $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

lo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 59 and 29 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of Radio Unit's written reviews are positive against 67% of lo's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Radio Unit ships an update every 2 months, lo fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Radio Unit versus lo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRadio Unitlo
Price$6.99 — better$9.99
Rating4.6 (59 ratings)5.0 (29 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings59 — better29
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBeepStreetUnfiltered Audio

Customer experience

Radio Unit

All ratings59 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral3.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews54 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral9.3%
Negative9.3%

lo

All ratings29 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

Radio Unit

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Cannot remove recognized songs
  • Cannot remove favorite saved songs (Mac)
  • Last update ruined experience with loading times and connection issues
  • Sadé channel frequently disconnects
  • Some stations don’t connect at all
Show 12 more
  • Cannot see song title/artist
  • Seamless integration with GarageBand and Logic Pro doesn't work
  • Cannot change station with MIDI, LFOs etc. after update
  • Cubasis 3 can’t find app
  • BBC streams no longer play
  • Cannot edit user slots after adding of link
  • Links not working
  • Cannot add user slots ('see the developer to unlock slots')
  • Adding stations near impossible
  • Failed URL slot flashes red and is inaccessible
  • Cannot paste other URLs
  • Cannot record and sample the feed into DAW

Requested features

13 requests
  • Option to remove or filter hostile nations
  • Add more stations (Golha radio, IRIB radio)
  • Ability to organize, tag, and edit stream specifications
  • Ability to use with CarPlay
  • Pitch slider within the app to slow down radio in real time
Show 8 more
  • More user presets/slots
  • iCloud sync for recently played stations and discovered pieces
  • Ability to change station with MIDI, LFOs etc. (post-update issue)
  • More exposed parameters for tweaking
  • Greater resources for slots (folders/sections)
  • Import/export presets list
  • Assign MIDI CC to volume knob and channel switch buttons
  • Support for streams in OGG container format

lo

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Radio Unit

No in-app purchases

None

lo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Radio Unit free?
Radio Unit costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is lo free?
lo costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Radio Unit or lo?
lo is rated higher. Radio Unit averages 4.6 out of 5 from 59 ratings, while lo averages 5.0 from 29 ratings.
Do Radio Unit or lo have ads?
Neither Radio Unit nor lo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Radio Unit or lo?
Radio Unit ships an update every 2 months, and lo fortnightly. Most recently, Radio Unit was updated on October 15, 2026 and lo on October 6, 2026.

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